For a time a few years ago, I used to make cigar box purses. I got many of my parts from thrift stores, including the handle I used on the very first one I made. I made and sold over 500 purses over a period of three years. I embellished many of them with thrifted parts, including poker chips on some casino-themed purses and playing cards, etc.
Here's a link to the site I used for the purses...
http://www.geocities.com/girlybox/cigarboxpurses.html